Xiaomi 13T Pro long-term review

Conclusion

The Xiaomi 13T Pro is a very good phone that doesn't really excel at any specific thing, or stand out in any way - that is, if we're just generally talking about it as a phone. But - context matters. So if we're looking at it from the perspective of a 'flagship killer', as we should since that's what it is in Xiaomi's lineup, then the picture instantly changes.

As a 'flagship killer', the 13T Pro is quite interesting since it comes with a camera system that's practically unheard of in this space. An ultrawide that isn't one of those cheap-as-chips 8 MP snappers? A proper telephoto? Both of those are reason enough for this one to stand out, and not just a little. Add in the Leica branding and all of the Leica-related processing stuff, and what we've got here might be the flagship killer that's come closest to a proper flagship in history.

Of course, it's far from the cheapest flagship killer that's ever existed. Xiaomi seems to have separated its flagship killers into two tiers, both price-wise as well as spec-wise. The lowest tier, so to speak, is very aptly covered by the Poco F5, while the highest tier is the 13T Pro, with the Poco F5 Pro and the 13T in between. That way none of these compete with each other, and you get a flagship killer at various price points so you can pick one based on your budget.

It's an interesting strategy and the truth is the T series was in dire need of more differentiating factors compared to the Poco F family. So now we have that, and it's almost entirely about the cameras - but the cameras are a huge part of people's buying decisions, so it makes sense. There's also the faster charging, of course, and the higher-end chipset, so overall you get a superior package to the Poco F5 at, unsurprisingly, a higher price - but, crucially, one that is, today, about 60-70% what a proper full blown flagship of a similar size goes for (the percentage obviously differs based on what exact device you compare it to and in what market).

So with all this in mind, the 'very good phone that doesn't really excel at anything' turns into 'an outstanding flagship killer for what is today still a rather reasonable price', even though it's almost twice as expensive as the granddaddy of flagship killers, the OG, the OnePlus One, was back in the day - but that's inflation for you right there.

The Xiaomi 13T Pro brings modern looks packed into an IP68-rated body, for the first time in the T series, even if its design isn't necessarily anything to write home about. It has a very good and accurate screen that gets plenty bright to be viewable even outdoors on a sunny day - it's not quite at the level where even if the sun hits it directly it will be just as legible, but it's close, and at its current price point, it doesn't really have any competitors that do better. So this isn't the best screen out there, but it's close - one step below best.

The same goes for performance, really - the chipset is plenty capable but not quite at the level of the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or Dimensity 9300. For day to day tasks, however, you won't really feel any difference. When it comes to smoothness, Xiaomi and OnePlus have traded blows in recent years grabbing the crown from each other at various points, and the 13T Pro is currently the joint smoothest smartphone we've ever reviewed long term, sharing that honor with the non-T 13 Pro. Of course that may change once we get round to reviewing phones powered by the newer top of the line chipsets from both Qualcomm and MediaTek, but for now, the 13T Pro is up there at the top.

The software has been rebranded HyperOS, although it still decidedly feels like the next iteration of MIUI, and there have been a lot of iterations recently that promised huge under-the-hood improvements and not a lot of user-facing stuff. It still looks like MIUI 14, with some added niceties here and there, which is why in the Software section we encouraged you to think of it more like MIUI 14.5 than something completely new. We do however think HyperOS simply sounds much better, so we don't have anything against the rebranding, it's just that it doesn't revolutionize Xiaomi's skin, merely tweaking it ever so slightly.

The update situation hasn't changed when it comes to security patches, those are still rarer than what other companies are doing, while for big Android updates the 13T Pro got a promise of four versions - which, considering it's already received one, means it will end its life on Android 17. At this price point, no other company is offering more, at least not yet - Samsung and Google have both promised longer software support windows, but only for their latest and greatest (and more expensive) flagships.

The 13T Pro's main claim to fame, at least compared to its predecessors in the T series, has to do with cameras. We're talking both about the Leica branding and assorted settings, as well as the fact that it ditched the oh-so-prevalent 8 MP ultrawide and added a proper telephoto. All of those things are firsts in the T line, and they're very welcome differentiating factors in the 'flagship killer' space, putting the 13T Pro at the upper level of that where its competitors are few, if any - ones that can match its camera system, that is.

So all of this makes the 13T Pro's camera performance very important, and we're happy to say it didn't disappoint. Sure, their output won't win against that of devices costing almost twice as much, but for most people the 13T Pro gets close enough that it might not matter. If cameras are important to you, but not the most important, and if you're on a budget that's not four digits, then the 13T Pro will deliver some very nice shots for you regardless of conditions.

Although we didn't expect it, the 13T Pro's battery life blew us away. It has the best endurance we've ever seen from a high-end Android phone with a 5,000 mAh battery, and thus, with our use case, we always made it through a day of use with a lot of capacity still left to spare. The ultrafast charging will help even those with much more demanding use cases than ours, since it makes quick midday top-ups an absolute breeze.

In the end, this is probably the best 'flagship killer' ever created. It's definitely the best one we've ever reviewed long-term. It's got a high-end screen, a good design, great performance, leads in smoothness and battery life, and has a camera setup that really makes it stand out from other flagship killers that came before. That said, if the cameras aren't important for your purchase decision, and you can live with a little bit less of everything else, then the Poco F5 that we've also reviewed long-term recently might be a better fitting Xiaomi-made flagship killer for you.

But if you simply want the best value - the phone that's crammed the most stuff in at as low a price as possible compared to top of the line flagships, then the Xiaomi 13T Pro is it.